Stuck Front Drop Link - 99 C2

Hey Guys, I'm in the middle of changing out my stock suspension for a ROW M030 kit from Carnewal. Everything was going well, I got the front drivers side in without too much trouble, then moved over to the passenger side and was making quick progress until I got to the top bolt of the sway bar drop link that goes through the strut mounting tab. It's totally stuck, won't budge at all. I've tried the following: PB Blaster with punch and small hammer Nut on end with big hammer Impact gun on the nut trying to shock it to move Wrench on the ball end trying to get it to turn Air chisel on a socket over the nut I haven't tried heat yet as my plumbing torch is at my Cabin right now. Looking for any advice, tips or tricks in getting this thing out. I'm surprised it's so stuck as I replaced them about 2 years ago and had no problems at all removing the originals that had been there for 17 years.

heat will be your friend here.

Do you have a heat gun for heat shrink tubing? Hair dryer? Halogen lamp? Sometimes you just need a little bit of heat.

Going to borrow a torch from my Brother in Law tonight. Save me a drive to the cabin. Is it best to heat the bolt or the wheel carrier?

Go easy on the wheel carrier as it's Aluminum... You shouldn't need much heat... more to get the penetrant in there than anything else...good luck

Success! I applied heat for 30 seconds on the bolt, then hit it with the hammer, after doing that for about 15 minutes the bolt came away from the face on the other side by a fraction of a mm. So at least I knew it was moving. Rinse repeat for the next hour or so and I had moved the bolt about half an inch. The problem then was I ran out of bolt protruding through the carrier so my hammer strikes were mostly hitting the wheel carrier. I then tried to use a punch but the length of it and holding it made it impossible to get any decent force onto the bolt. The trick was to drill the end of the bolt with say an 1/8 inch bit, maybe an 1/8 inch deep, just enough to fit the chisel point of my air hammer. This allowed me to get the air hammer directly in line with the bolt without it slipping off. Once I had this setup the bolt was out in 5 seconds. So for those who experience a stuck drop link that won't budge using the conventional non destructive ways, I'd definitely start with drilling the bolt end and trying the air hammer with a chisel point. Got the front sway bar in, now onto the back of the car while I wait for my replacement drop link to arrive.

Wow. I've never had any issues even close to this. Can you tell if the bolt was bent or just rusted in? Good job sticking after it. As a life long gamer, I always compare issues like this to randomly throwing a high level boss into the middle of a level. All of sudden you have a huge problem that you don't think should be there but it's that much more satisfying when you eventually solve it and move on.

Once I got the bolt out, I found a grey white powdery substance in the threads but not on the smooth shoulder, I assume this is aluminum corrosion. Light brushing with a wire brush cleaned up the threads and the bolt slides into the carrier no problem at all. Both links were replaced 2 years ago and torqued properly, The only difference is that I had the passenger side wheel bearing replaced by a shop about a year ago. I wonder if they torqued the crap out of it or something. There was no evidence of lock tight or anything on the bolt.

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I'm having the same problem with the upper sway bar link bolt on an '08 Cayman. It will not come out having tried everything you have listed above including the air chisel tip (I used a $15 harbor freight air chisel, so don't know if I should try a different air chisel). When you say heated it for 30 sec and then hit with hammer: did you heat for 30 sec and hit it once, heated for another 30 sec and then hit again, and then heat for another 30 sec etc? Or did you heat for 30 sec and hit with hammer for 15 min? Were you using a plumbing torch or acetylene torch? I'm using a plumbing MAP torch. At this point I may go ahead and order new drop links as I'm pretty sure they they will be toast by the time I'm done getting them out Anyone have experience with using Moog on a porsche? It would cost me $40 vs $110. Normally I try to go all OE manufacturer, but I believe Moog are in general great quality.

Use a map gas torch it will get plenty hot enough. Also if u are trashing the link heat it up for a few minutes. It may take 2 or 3 heat cycles to break the corosion bond. Im 98% trw is the porshe sway bar link supplier if u want to not pay the porshe tax.

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You can just get the OEM part from TRW for way less than OE at Porsche.

I don't recall anymore, but it was something along the lines of heat the bolt for 30 seconds, pound the crap out of it for a few minutes, rinse, repeat. I was just using a regular plumbing torch from home depot, nothing special.

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Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm going to try takleing them again next week. Fingers crossed it works out. I have replacement drop links coming in before then.

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​​​​​​So I finally got both bolts out. Probably spent about 5 hour on the driver's side with no success at first. Days of repeated pb blaster spraying, repeated heating with a MAP torch, and more hammering with 4lb hammer, all without the bolt budging. Read on line about drilling a hole at the end of the bolt and using an air chisel with pointed bit to move it out. Tried both the small and medium air hammers from harbor freight and no success. Bought a cp7150 air chisel online ($64) and it did the trick @ 120psi(it's rated at 90psi, but read several posts of people running at 120psi for stubborn bolts). First bolt out in 4 min (the one I had been heating and beating on for about 5 hours total). The other side which had only been soaking in pb blaster for a few days came out in 15 min. The first 10 min seemed to show no movement of the bolt, but then it started to move. It feels great to finally be wrapping up this project 😊 I believe the torque specs for this bolt is 63 ftlbs. Seems pretty high. Can anyone confirm?

I ran into almost the same issue on Monday when trying to remove the equivalent 996 C4 bolt. (C4 doesn't use the drop link to close the wheel hub around the strut, it has a bolt) I used my Snap-on 1200 ft lbs impact wrench and it finally broke the bolt loose. Then I was able to use a punch to get it loose.

I started using a tip from this forum - I cut the ball of the link to be able to use a socket to rotate the bolt. Using a hummer didn't work and I think it's better to use a brain than a hummer, expecially repairing Porsche. To remove the bolt quickly you you would need then: 1. Set of old nuts removal sockets, e.g. 11x Locking Wheel Nut Remover Grip Twist Sockets Damaged Rounded Bolts Tool Set - �11 2. Chain, e.g. Fixman 925265 Electro Galvanised Side-Welded Chain 3mm x 2.5m - �4 3. Bearing puller, e.g. 2 Arms Special Thin Claws Mini Gear Bearings Puller Extractor 4" - �10 4. Set of sockets 5. 2ft tube - wrench extension 6. Metal saw or angle cutter to cut off the link joint ball Undo the nut first. Cut off the link joint ball. BTW, using any penetrating spray or heating the tube doesn't help. Dismantle the bearing extractor and use the top part only. The screw must be kept parallel with the bolt. Wrap the extractor bar with the chain attaching it to the shock holder. Otust be tight. Use ABS connector holding bolt to anchor the chain. Once it's done, start turning the extractor until you can't turn it anymore. Then using the nut remover and wrench with extension turn the bolt at least half a turn. Turn the extractor again and the bolt repeating it circa 20 times. It shouldn't take you more than 15 minutes to remove the bolt.

Posting another solution for any poor souls that run into this issue. Here is what I found worked for me like a charm on both sides with zero heat required but some tools needed. Heres what I used: - Standard Pulley puller (Two claw arms and a threaded punch through the middle) - Air hammer with punch attachment - 17 MM long impact socket with electric impact gun. - PB blaster (Of course if you've made it to this thread, I'm sure you already soaked it! lol) Heres what I did, 1. Used the pulley puller to pop the sway bar drop link off the upper ball joint to expose the 17mm (First it pops off, Then used it again to break the remaining plastic off the ball joint) 2. Soak it in PB 3. Not fully necessary but I drilled a pilot on the threaded end of the bolt to guide the punch on the air hammer 4. Now simply use the air hammer with the punch on the side you are pushing out while using your impact with 17inch on the other side to spin it. The vibration on both sides and the punching and twisting motion should have your stuck bolt *** out in no time I spent like 5 hours on one side and came up with this, and then the next side took maybe 5 minutes. Good luck out there!